The Italian Almanac

Italian News - April 30

Tom Cruise and  Katie Holmes were photographed 
living  la dolce vita in Rome  this week. Both 
stars' publicists  confirmed the duo have been 
dating for a few weeks.

Italian News - April 30

Thousands  of  people  queued to  buy  the 
Vatican's last  series  of  coins  bearing 
the image of Pope John Paul ordered before 
his death and already soaring in value.

Italian Sport - April 28

Championship  leader  Petter  Solberg  is 
confident of a second consecutive triumph 
in the  Rally of Italy,  which gets under 
way totay.

Italian News - April 27

A  Roman  restaurant  owner  called   the 
police after  a smartly  dressed customer 
got up and calmly declared that he didn't 
have any money to pay the bill.

Italian Art - April 27

It is  one of the masterpieces  of ancient  Greek 
sculpture.  But  could the Laocoön  really  be  a 
fake by Michelangelo? It's true that Michelangelo
was a brilliant forger.

Italian News - April 26

A porn director is trying to capitalize 
on local 'attractions' with a series of 
sex flicks  starring residents of small 
towns.

Italian News - April 26

Art patrons have often indulged in having their 
portraits put  in larger works, but  an Italian 
mayor is the first present-day official to have 
himself sculpted with the saints.

Italian News - April 25

Traditional Italian names like Marco 
and Francesca are  making a comeback 
after an "alarming" trend  of babies 
being named after movie stars.

Italian News - April 27

Italian cemeteries are preparing special 
areas for people to scatter ashes of the 
dead after  a long-awaited law  allowing 
them to do what they wish was enacted.

Italian Movies - April 25

The director  Aurelio Grimaldi  is 
back, this time with a movie based 
on  "Philosophy in the Boudoir" by 
the Marquis De Sade.

Italian News - April 23

Dog owners in  Turin will be fined  up to 
500 euros ($650) if they don't walk their 
pets at least three  times a day, under a 
new law from the city's council.

Italian News - April 22

The  Italian  Consulate General  in 
Karachi   is   organising  an   art 
exhibition titled ‘Islam in Sicily: 
A Garden Between Two Civilisations’

Italian News - April 21

The school year comprises 200 days 
of lessons.  At secondary schools, 
absences  reduce  that  number  by 
anything from 20 to 30%.

Italian News - April 21

The 250 inhabitants of Torri, about 9 
kilometers  (5.7 miles)  inland  from 
Ventimiglia, appear to have turned to 
procreation as recreation.

Italian News - April 20

It will be an especially loud mating season 
off Northern  Italy's Ligurian coast  where 
whales  have  hit a  new frequency  to make 
themselves heard over noise pollution.

Italian News - April 20

In an age of email and mass media, pouring 
smoke  out  of a chimney  to announce  the 
election of a new pope seems as ancient as 
Latin liturgy and glowing vestments.

Italian News - April 20

The home Web page of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger's 
fan  club  crashed  after his  election  as pope 
yesterday  amid  a flood  of interest in the new 
leader of the world's Roman Catholics.

Italian News - April 18

Italians  soldiers are taking  over a 
reconstruction  team  in Afghanistan. 
The soldiers will provide security to 
Afghan and international aid workers.

Italian Art - April 18

A 15th century painting that turned up in 
a church  storage closet 50 years ago was 
escorted  back  to St. James Cathedral in 
Seattle after being restored.

Italian News - April 17

Housekeepers, elevator operators, and 
others  who will come in contact with 
cardinals as  they choose a new  pope 
had to take an oath of secrecy.

Italian News / Music - April 17

Luciano Pavarotti  has cancelled one  performance 
and  rescheduled  three  others  on his  farewell 
world tour because of a medical procedure planned 
for June.

Italian News - April 15

Forget images  of germ-free processed  space 
rations, the crew of the International Space 
Station (ISS) will now be able to feast on a 
range of Italian delicacies,

Italian Science - April 15

Most male racehorses are castrated while young, 
making  it impossible  to breed from them,  but 
scientists  have now  cloned a stallion  from a 
castrated champion racehorse.

Italian News - April 14

In  a  case  brought before  the Cassation 
court, because  of  her  relationship with 
another woman a wife in Sicily was faulted 
with the breakup of her marriage.

Italian Science - April 14

Falling in  love is  the  quickest way to lose weight, 
according to  Italian diet experts. Love as the (diet) 
drug works because it sets off a reaction that lessens 
appetite and increases feelings of satiety.

Italian News - April 13

Comparisons  between standards products and 
lite versions did not reveal any particular 
differences  in calorie  content.  Lite and 
standard versions are very similar.

Italian News - April 13

It  was  business  as  usual at St. Nazaro 
Maggiore, Don Giulio Giacometti celebrated 
Sunday mass for  a minuscule  congregation 
of fewer than 30 souls.

Italian News - April 13

Under the  umbrella of ARTEX, nine companies 
from Italy are exhibiting in Sharjah for the 
first  time offering new designs  and brands 
not available in the local market.

Italian News - April 12

Within a year, the largest train station 
in Rome - the  bustling, slightly  seedy 
Stazione Termini  - will most  likely be 
renamed Pope John Paul II Station.

Italian News - April 11

A set of Vatican stamps that will be usable 
only  until the  election of a  new pope, a 
period that  could be  as little as 10 days, 
will go on sale from Tuesday.

Italian Sport - April 11

Wilson Kenebei Kiprotich of Kenya took a 
wrong  turn but recovered in time to win 
the  Stramilano  half marathon on Sunday, 
beating John Yuda of Tanzania.

Italian News - April 9

Italian authorities on high alert for 
Pope  John Paul II's  funeral  Friday 
scrambled F -16 jet fighters to force 
down one plane.

Italian News - April 9

The  body of  Pope John Paul II has  hardly been 
peaceful, with  18,000 people  shuffling by each 
hour, especially when the majority were wielding 
cellphone cameras.

Italian News - April 9

Worried about  possibly unmanageable 
crowds  surging toward  the Vatican, 
officials in Rome enlisted different
viewing spots for the ceremonies.

italian News - April 7

Several  TV networks will  provide live 
coverage of Pope John Paul II's funeral 
Friday for Americans who want to get up 
early or stay up late.

Italian Legends - April 7

The pope elected to succeed John Paul II 
will be assassinated  and his death will 
spark a Muslim invasion of the west that 
will split the Catholic Church.

Italian News - April 6

In preparation  for a gathering of world  leaders 
in Rome for Pope John Paul's funeral, authorities 
are putting  in place a defense  shield that will 
include anti-aircraft missiles.

Italian Science - April 6

More than 300 delegates from  around the 
world  are gathering  in  Milan to  talk 
about the ethical and legal implications 
of working with human cells.

Italian News - April 5

It's being proclaimed by powerful clergymen, 
printed in newspapers and  even tucked  into 
a Vatican-drafted homily: Pope John Paul the 
Great.

Italian News - April 5

The Vatican  press office  has been 
overwhelmed   with    accreditation 
requests from journalists worldwide 
seeking to cover the papal funeral.

Italian News - April 5

A message of "peace, youth and the environment" 
started  its 6,000-mile  journey from Salt Lake 
City  to Turin  on Monday as  the Italian  city 
prepares to host the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Italian News - April 3

Rome is preparing extra trains, fresh 
water supplies and  thousands of beds 
in expectation of one of the greatest 
influxes of pilgrims in its memory.

Italian News / Sport - April 3

All  Italian  sports  competitions 
including Serie A soccer have been 
suspended  out of respect  for the 
death of Pope John Paul.

Italian News - April 2

Italy's  Premier  Silvio Berlusconi,  proud 
of his new hair implants, said his European 
counterparts  "are seriously  interested by 
this operation".